Trek XI Already Hitting Scheduling Problems?

If I didn't know better, I'd swear God Himself has an active interest in preventing Star Trek XI from ever making it into cinemas. Perhaps God is nothing more than a Trek hater; but I'd bet He heard rumors of the "Spock and Kirk in Starfleet Academy" plot and just doesn't want to see further injustice visited upon the once-proud franchise. After ages of debate, plot changes, script treatments, and corporate infighting, it seemed as though for better or worse we were finally destined to see a new movie. Heck, even old William Shatner was suggesting he might pop in for a brief cameo. We were told wheels were turning, and to expect a script by October, with filming in the spring and a Summer 2008 release.

Well in case you didn't notice, October came and went with no finished Trek script. Raise your hand if you are surprised by this ... anyone? Yeah, me neither. However, despite Shatner now claiming he won't be involved, director J.J. Abrams promises the light is still green. They still hope to be able to begin filming in spring, and meet the summer release date, although Abrams is now hedging his bets and saying he wouldn't mind a winter release. Naturally, summer is the season of the blockbuster, and Star Trek desperately needs a good box office return if they want to breath life back into the dying franchise, so all due haste should be made.

So are we finally staring down the barrel of the next Trek film, or are we destined for another string of delays and cancellations? It seems as though Abrams and company are rather serious about this project, so this is probably the best shot the franchise will get at another major motion picture in the near future. If this team can't pull it off, I don't know who can. I'm not saying they'll do a great job, I'm just saying they've got the most potential for actually making a film happen. Excited or scared, fanboys and girls?